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Cactus-inspired design principles for soft robotics based on 3D printed hydrogel-elastomer systems
Materials and Design, Volume: 202, Start page: 109515
Swansea University Author: Anil Bastola
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© 2021 Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.matdes.2021.109515
Abstract
Plants have evolved many capabilities to anchor, position their stems and leaves favourably, and adapt themselves to different environmental conditions by virtue of growing. Selenicereus setaceus is a cactus and is an impressive example of a climbing plant found mostly in the Atlantic forest formati...
| Published in: | Materials and Design |
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| ISSN: | 0264-1275 |
| Published: |
Elsevier BV
2021
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65754 |
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| Abstract: |
Plants have evolved many capabilities to anchor, position their stems and leaves favourably, and adapt themselves to different environmental conditions by virtue of growing. Selenicereus setaceus is a cactus and is an impressive example of a climbing plant found mostly in the Atlantic forest formations of southern Brazil. This cactus displays striking changes in stem geometry along different stages of growth: older parts are circular while the younger parts are star-like in shape. Such a transformation in shape optimizes its flexural rigidity and allows the cactus to search in three-dimensionally complex environments. Its organisation offers novel schemes for the design of plant-inspired soft robotic systems. In this paper, we have created multi-material systems for soft robotics that display controlled movements as well as mimicking the cactus stem geometries from star-like to circular. The unique star-shaped geometry is 3D printed using a soft elastomer and hydrogel is used as an actuating component. Through anisotropic swelling, the hydrogel-elastomer system adjusts its configuration and shows a controlled movement. Furthermore, the isotropic swelling of the hydrogel of the artificial cactus multi-material system result in the change in shape from star-like to circular as the cactus does naturally in the tropical forest. |
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| Keywords: |
Cactus-inspired; Hydrogel-elastomer; Multi-material; 3D printing; Soft-robotics |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
Mrs. Yvonne Pieper is acknowledged for cross-sectional images of the artificial cactus. This work was financially supported by the Helmholtz Association through programme-oriented funding and received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 824074 (GrowBot). |
| Start Page: |
109515 |